Chapter 398 – Going to Jianzhou

The White Lotus female Taoist Master, who was curious to know which jianghu masters the Golden Lotus Taoist Head had picked as Earth Book shard holders, was a Lotus of color, and had quite a high status.

Knowing some insider information, the holders of the fragments selected by the Head of the Golden Lotus Path were said to be upstarts who possessed great blessings. They would be an important pillar for the Head of the Golden Lotus Path to eradicate demonic thoughts in the future.

But the problem was that these young people were all upstarts, and how strong could they be?

Unless every one of them was of the fourth rank, White Lotus didn’t think that these young men could hold back the several Lotus Daoists of the Earth Sect who had entered the demonic world, the head of the Black Lotus Dao, or the centaurs of the Martial Arts Alliance.

However, it seems that the Taoist Master of the Golden Lotus had great confidence in the “Earth Book Heaven and Earth Society” that he had formed.

All over the nine states, the number of young talents is endless, like a river of crucian carp, and it is really impossible to guess who the young man that the head of the Golden Lotus Road is searching for is ………. White Lotus heart both apprehensive and expectant.

…………

Inuyasha.

Late at night, Cao Qingyang, who was wearing a purple robe with layers and layers of cloud patterns embroidered with gold thread, left the compound alone and walked towards the back of the mountain.

There is a man in the backwoods, the same age as the country.

The moonlight was dim and the trees were in shadow as he rustled along the mountain path, the hem of his purple robe caressing the weeds along the road.

Cao Qingyang, over forty years old, with upright features and sharp eyes, his face perfectly fits the word “upright”.

Regarding this ally, there has always been a popular rumor in the Jianghu of Jianzhou that the former ally was obsessed with face reading, and it was said that he once met Cao Qingyang, who was still a minion of the Martial Arts League at that time, by chance.

He was overjoyed and said that this son’s face was extraordinary, and that he was one in ten thousand with the phase of Hou Tu. The sky is round, the earth is thick and virtuous, and those who have the phase of the earth have flawless virtue and can lead the herd.

He took him as his disciple and taught him all the martial arts.

Regardless of whether or not there is any truth in facial physiognomy, the former ally’s vision is indeed good, in terms of martial arts attainments, Cao Qingyang is the number one martial artist in Jianzhou and the leader of the martial arts list.

In terms of professionalism, Cao Qingyang has been in charge of the Jianzhou Martial Arts Alliance for more than ten years without making any major mistakes, and the order of the rivers and lakes in Jianzhou is stable, and he even cooperates with the government to arrest some fugitives from the rivers and lakes.

After a quarter of an hour of trekking through the mountains and forests, a huge cliff face opened up before him, and at the base of the towering cliff face was a stone gate.

The stone door was tightly closed, the doorway was full of rotting leaves and weeds, and it seemed to be dusty for endless years, unopened.

The moment he stepped out of the forest and saw the cliff wall, Cao Qingyang was keenly aware that two red lanterns were lit up at the top of the cliff, which “shone” on him for a while and then went out.

That’s Injun.

Cao Qingyang came to the stone door and bent his spine, his voice steady and respectful, “Old Ancestor, I will seize the Nine-colored Lotus Root for you and help you break the barrier.”

There was no response from the door.

Cao Qingyang continued, “Since the Battle of Shanhaiguan twenty years ago, the power of the Dafeng nation has been weakening, and the imperial court’s control over the states has declined drastically. The states have been plagued with disasters, and the apprentice grandson has a premonition that great chaos is descending.”

A pale and ethereal voice finally resounded from within the door, “The Emperor of the Dafeng is still practicing monasticism?”

Cao Qingyang nodded, “Yes.”

“Hmph!”

Cold grunts came through the doorway.

Cao Qingyang continued, “Recently, a piece of news came back from the capital, that the Zhenbei King who guarded the border, in order to impact the Second Grade Grand Circle, slaughtered the 380,000 people of Chuzhou City, and was beheaded by a mysterious strong man in Chuzhou City.”

At once the message was briefly stated.

“Good chop!” The voice responded.

“Afterwards, Emperor Yuanjing, in order to cover up the crime, killed the Chuzhou Prefect who had gone to the capital to redress his grievances, and harbored one of the main culprits, the Duke of the Protectorate.”

“The courtiers don’t care? The Supervisor doesn’t care?” The voice lowered a few notches.

“Yes.”

When Cao Qingyang’s voice fell, he suddenly felt that the earth under his feet trembled slightly, and the stone door also trembled, and the dust rustled and fell.

On the cliff face, the two lanterns lit up again, watching him coldly.

“The old ancestor rests his anger, there is a follow-up to this matter ……..” Cao Qingyang said busily.

The sound of the mountain trembling stopped, and the two red lanterns on the cliff face spiraled out.

Cao Qingyang exhaled a breath, his majestic and dignified face showing an obvious relaxation, and continued:

“Later, a silver gong broke into the palace, captured the Protector of the State, denounced the emperor’s crimes, denounced the crimes of the King of Zhenbei, and beheaded the two state princes involved in the case at the entrance to the market.”

Inside the stone door, no sound came for a long time, and after half a quarter of an hour of silence, a misty sigh came, “Since ancient times, the piker is the most hateful, since ancient times, the piker is the most blameless.”

Cao Qingyang thought for a moment and explained, “Old Ancestor, that silver gong is not dead.”

“Oh?”

This time, there was a hint of curiosity mixed into the low, ethereal voice.

“This person’s name is Xu Qi’an, a night watchman, last year’s Jingcha rising figure, old ancestor if you want to hear, the disciple grandson can talk to you, you don’t think I’m annoying that is.”

The old voice with a little laughter, “Old man is stuck in the same old rut for hundreds of years, do not know the world beyond the rivers and mountains, do not know the jianghu of the nine states, in addition to listening to you nagging at regular intervals, other times, boring.”

Cao Qingyang then plopped down in front of the stone door, and said with a flourish, “In recent years, the most interesting thing in the jianghu is the Flying Swallow Woman, and the most applauded thing in the imperial court is this silver gong called Xu Qi’an ……….”

At that moment, the year of Jingcha, Xu Qi’an’s rise to prominence, one pile, one piece, narrated.

The Wulin Alliance can dominate the Jianghu of Jianzhou, so that the government is afraid of, the imperial court acquiescence, naturally has its unique features. What makes Cao Qingyang most proud of himself is not the experts in the alliance, nor is it the 8,000 heavy cavalry.

Rather, it’s the intelligence system he’s built.

Peddlers, jianghu ranger, the intelligence system formed by these people, in the view of Cao Qingyang, although it is not as good as that Wei Qingyi’s night watchman secretly. But when it comes to the underlying information and intelligence, it is even better.

From cracking the tax silver case in the jail, to beheading his superiors with a knife, from the Sangpo case to the Yunzhou case, all the way to the recent Chuzhou case, Cao Qingyang was able to talk about all of them in detail and understand them.

Jianzhou is putting a lot of effort into this Xu Yinluo.

Of course, it was also because what that man had done was so shocking and high-profile that it was hard not to want to know about it.

The old ancestor in the stone door listened patiently, listening to the path of promotion of a small person, and actually listened with great interest.

“Interesting, interesting, if this son doesn’t die young, Da Feng will have another peak martial artist.” The old voice said with a smile.

“Rumor has it in the jianghu that this son’s talent does not lose out to the Zhenbei King.” Cao Qingyang nodded, not feeling that there was anything wrong with the old ancestor’s assessment.

“Compared to the King of Zhenbei, I would prefer to see a martial artist like the boy surnamed Xu appear.” The old voice sighed:

“The more lawless a martial artist violates the prohibition with his strength, the purer his thoughts are, because the martial artist cultivates himself ………. King Zhenbei is a pure martial artist, so he was able to go to that height, but because of that, he committed the atrocity of slaughtering the city, so since ancient times, pikers are the most hateful.

“The boy surnamed Xu is likewise lawless, doing things only with a clear conscience. Therefore, he knifed his superiors for an unrelated maiden, and he will stand alone for the heat of the moment ……. how many rebels to come?”

“Beheaded over two hundred rebels.” Cao Qingyang recalled for a moment and replied.

“You just said he stood alone against ten thousand rebels.” The pale voice said.

…….. Cao Qingyang’s face twitched slightly, and he said in a deep voice, “Some say it’s eight thousand, some say it’s five thousand, and some say it’s ten thousand or twenty thousand …….. There are just too many rumors, I got sidetracked.”

The old voice “hmm”, continued: “Including this Chuzhou massacre, everyone is afraid of the imperial power, do not dare to speak out, only he dared to come forward, the crown of anger. Therefore, since ancient times, the most blameless man.”

Cao Qingyang bowed his head, “Remember the teachings of the old ancestor.”

After a pause, he once again mentioned the main matter of this visit, “The Earth Sect’s Nine-Colored Lotus Flower is located in Jianzhou, and it will mature in a few days. I want to seize the lotus root and help the old ancestor break the barrier.

“Only, that Earth Sect Dao Head has fallen into the devil’s path and is not trustworthy enough, the disciple grandson has half a foot in the third rank, there is still half a foot how can’t take a step, I’m afraid that I’m not able to fight against the Earth Sect Dao Head, so I ask the Old Ancestor to help me.”

“The Taoist Sect of Heaven, Earth, and Humans, the successive Taoist capitals have been of the second rank, so how can I help you?”

“Old Ancestor, the one that came is just a bilocation, it’s a third grade at most.” Cao Qingyang added.

In the cracks of the stone door, a drop of translucent blood was squeezed out and crashed into Cao Qingyang’s brow.

………….

Early in the morning, the sun shines brightly, bringing with it a powerful heat.

Xu Qi’an woke up at the right time, his head as big as a bucket, a little hard to bear, yawning while muttering in his heart, “It’s been a long time since I’ve visited Floating Fragrance, I miss it so much.”

Getting fully dressed, he woke up Zhong Li, who was not far away on the soft collapse, and greeted her to go wash her face and brush her teeth together.

The two men crouched under the eaves, holding pig-bristled toothbrushes and brushing their mouths full of foam.

“A truly top-tier artifact isn’t the formation imprinted in it, but rather, the divine artifact has a spirit.”

At this time, Zhong Li suddenly said something without a clue, then tilted her head and looked at him silently.

Xu Qi’an frowned and scolded, “If you have something to say, just finish and give me a look so I can comprehend it?”

“Oooooh …..”

She made two slurred “oh” sounds, took a mouthful of water, spat out the white foam, and said softly, “The sword that teacher gave you has the empty appearance of a supreme divine weapon, but does not have a corresponding weapon spirit.”

Xu Qi’an’s heart fluttered, “And then?”

Zhong Li suggested seriously, her voice was like a wind chime under the eaves, crisp with soft moistening: ”Be sure to get the lotus seed, it can nourish the weapon and give birth to the weapon spirit of your sword.

“A weapon that possesses an artifact spirit will become a truly great killing weapon. The topmost magical treasures in the Nine States, such as the Zhen Guo Sword and the Earth Book, are all possessed of an artifact spirit.

“That is to say, the birth of an artifact spirit is the foundation for stepping into the ranks of the topmost magical treasures of the Kyushu. The saber gifted to you by Teacher Supervisor Zheng, if it can possess an artifact spirit, the physical body of a high-grade martial artist will no longer be so invincible.”

Right, why didn t I think of it before, the lotus is able to enlighten all things, naturally it can also enlighten my peyote ………. Xu Qi’an thumped his heart.

He estimated in his heart that if the black and gold long sword were to give birth to an artifact spirit, and then match it with his “Heaven and Earth One Blade Slash”, it would be more than just invincible at the same level.

It was extremely possible, extremely possible to decimate an enemy across a realm.

When he truly advanced to the fifth rank, he might be able to wrestle a fourth rank martial artist, well, even if the peak of the fourth rank wasn’t possible, it still wouldn’t be difficult for an unusual fourth rank.

By analogy, if you were promoted to the fourth grade, would that be one of the best attacking and killing techniques in the same rank?

What Xu Qi’an lacked the most right now was real battle power, and weapons were also a form of battle power.

Zhong Li rinsed her mouth and said in a soft moistened voice, “After the birth of the artifact spirit, the knife will not be a dead object, if you warm it up day after day, it will recognize its owner, and the next person will not be able to use it. You have a fragment of the Earth Book, you should understand.”

Zhong Li is awesome …….. Xu Qi An couldn t wait to go to the Sword State, he deliberately made a stern face and said in a deep voice, “How did you know that I have a fragment of the earth book, how did you know that I was going to guard the lotus, did you spy on me to send a message?”

“?” Zhong Li looked at him stupidly.

Xu Qi’an wiped the corners of her mouth and applied the foam in her palm to the top of her head before making a chicken nest of what was already a mess.

He looked at his masterpiece with glee and a grin.

“I, I need to wash my hair ……..”

Zhong Li looked at him innocently, not knowing why he was treated like this, and walked away aggrieved.

Haha, if it was a princess, she would have jumped up and scratched my face ……… Xu Qi An let out a pleased “humph”.

A familiar feeling of heart palpitations struck at this juncture.

Xu Qi’an frowned, dropping his pig-bristled toothbrush and returning to his room, grabbing the fragment of the earth book from under his pillow and checking the message.

[Nine: Gentlemen, set out immediately to come to Jianzhou, the situation is a little bad.]

Chu Yuanjian immediately replied: [4: What does it mean that the situation is not good, Daoist, what happened in Jianzhou?

[Nine: I can’t tell you at a moment’s notice, there are a bit too many enemies this time, and the situation is very bad, so you’d better come over right away and meet face to face.]

This time, the enemy was a bit? Xu Qi’an immediately raised his eyebrows.

With Zhong Li’s words, he was bound and determined to get the lotus seed, as it would allow him to have a supreme divine weapon, and no longer just reap the benefits of a snappable concubine.

“I’m going to leave immediately, well, first I’ll send you back to the Si Tian Supervisor.” Xu Qi’an grabbed Zhong Li’s arm and ran out of the room.

Just in time, saw Li Miaozhen carrying a flying sword, coming out of the room, without Su Su by her side, probably incoming into the yin nang.

“I’ll send her back to the Si Tian Supervisor.” Xu Qi’an said.

“Uh-huh.” Li Miaozhen nodded.

Doom-ridden Zhong Li, even in normal times, have to be careful, if you are in the battlefield ………

Mounting the little mare and returning to the Sitian Supervisor with Zhong Li, Xu Qi’an was about to meet up with Li Miaochen when a bold idea suddenly surged up in his heart.

Yang Qianyi is a fourth grade artisan, the art of attacking and killing is not as good as that of a martial artist, but a handful of formations play very well, as well as magic weapons ……….

Xu Qi’an saw Zhong Li going down the stone steps, about to disappear from sight, and hurriedly shouted, “Senior Sister Zhong, Senior Brother Yang is at the bottom right?”

Zhong Li looked back, “Uh-huh”

“Senior Brother Yang? Senior Brother Yang?” He shouted at the ground, his voice rumbling and echoing.

“It’s noisy, what’s the point of calling out to me?” Yang Qianyue’s disgruntled voice came out.

“Looking for a favor from Sifu …….”

Just as Xu Qi’an opened his mouth, he was interrupted and rejected by Yang Qianyi: “No help, get lost!”

Xu Qi’an looked helplessly at Zhong Li, who shook her head, indicating that there was nothing she could do.

He thought for a moment, sighed, and raised his voice:

“I’m going here for the sake of one man’s power. I’m going here to kill all the petty criminals and shock the jianghu. I am going here to go to the Sword State, the holy land of martial arts, just to say one thing to the Jianghu of the Sword State: everyone here is trash.”

After saying that, a white shadow flashed in front of Xu Qi’an’s eyes, and Yang Qianyi stood with his arms folded as he said in a deep voice, “Go!”